Author inspired: Norris Home Furnishings event

Designers create home office

domains for 11 SWFL writers

Michael Connors

NAPLES, Fla. – When Naples author Jean Harrington sits down to work on her Deva Dunne detective series, she has a few requirements.

Jean Harrington

To start, it must be quiet, with no music or television to distract her. She enjoys a cup of coffee or hot chocolate sometimes, too. Finally, she likes something lovely to look at in those moments when she takes a short break from plotting Deva’s latest murder mystery.

To start, it must be quiet, with no music or television to distract her. She enjoys a cup of coffee or hot chocolate sometimes, too. Finally, she likes something lovely to look at in those moments when she takes a short break from plotting Deva’s latest murder mystery.

“It is nice, when you’re sitting there, to have a vista to look at,” Harrington said of working from home. “It’s the internal vista that you have to concentrate on, and then you occasionally look up and get that flash of beauty.”

Harrington is one of 11 authors with Southwest Florida connections slated to participate in the third annual Norris Home Furnishings Writer’s Domain, to be held later this month.

Karen Bartlett

Norris designers worked with the authors to create writing “domains” that were reflective of how they like to work, and the authors will be on-hand to sign copies of their books during two events. A portion of the proceeds will benefit First Book-Collier County, a nonprofit organization that provides new books to needy children.

Harrington may be especially well-suited to noticing and valuing a room’s beauty because of her literary creation’s vocation — Deva is an interior designer living and working in Naples. Deva’s most recent investigation is captured in the series’ fifth book, “The Design is Murder.”

A sharp eye for details makes Deva a successful designer, but it’s also what has turned her into a skillful amateur sleuth, Harrington explained.

“The tiny little details in a room are what makes a room come alive,” said the author.

Harrington was partnered with MaryBeth Binkley-Gill, a Norris interior design consultant and Interior Design Society member, for the Writer’s Domain. After learning that Harrington likes to write at her dining room table, Binkley-Gill worked to create a “domain” with an elegant, transitional style.

Binkley-Gill chose a Chaddock dining room table and chairs with neutral fabric, a dark espresso finish and silver nail heads to start. For accents, she added a round chrome tray for a porcelain coffee carafe and nearby, there will be colorful, modern artwork to provide the bright, inspiring vista Harrington prefers.

“It’s going to be a very clean look,” Binkley-Gill said.

In creating a “domain” or home office, Binkley-Gill suggests that homeowners consider how they will use the space. Will it be a high-traffic area that needs to serve many functions, or is its primary purpose aesthetic? Will the room be used by the husband, wife or both? How much light is needed in the room?

Increasingly, such rooms are designed to be open to the rest of the home, Binkley-Gill noted, so it’s also important to design the space in a way that it integrates with the rest of the home’s décor.

“I like to make sure there’s a cohesiveness in design, so there’s a flow throughout the house, design-wise,” Binkley-Gill said.

Jim Shafer, a Norris sales and design consultant and Interior Design Society member, will take part in the Writer’s Domain again this year. Partnered with author Michael Connors, author of “Havana Modern: 20th Century Architecture and Interiors,” Shafer worked to create a tropically-inspired space.

While colors and styles may change with the season, the need for a reliable and relaxing home office space will not, Shafer said.

To that end, Shafer has created spaces that can hide office equipment such as printers, fax machines and cords, but also allow easy access to computers, microwaves and refrigerators. For some who work at home, it’s better to add a small kitchenette to a home office domain than to expect that they would want to run to their kitchen to prepare food, thus breaking their creative flow, Shafer said.

Some vendors offer furniture pieces that allow for office machinery to be hidden, while it’s sometimes necessary to custom-create a piece to hide these items.

“It’s very individual,” he said.

“I like to make people comfortable, because if they’re not comfortable, they’re not going to work well.”

If you go

Norris Home Furnishings Writer’s Domain
What: 11 local authors will be on-hand to showcase “domains” created by Norris designersWhen: A gala preview, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29; Champagne, wine and hors d’oeuvres will be servedCost: $35When: Open house, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31Where: Norris Home Furnishings, 5015 U.S. 41 North, North NaplesRSVP: Reservations are required for gala preview; call 239-263-0580. No reservations are required for the open house.
Something else: Authors will sign books at both events. A portion of the book sales will benefit First Book-Collier County, a nonprofit organization that provides new books to children living in poverty.